TOMY Pocketmate games
Poke Pachi (Time Trap, Pocket Pachinko) ft. Marvin and Grotesque No. 9
TOMY Pocketmate is a series of mechanical games made for the pocket. They were produced by TOMY Japan between 1975 and 1984, before the success of electronic games such as Game & Watch by Nintendo.
More than 70 games were published worldwide, under different names and appearances. They were known as Pocketmates in Japan, as Pocket Games in the US, and as Pocketeers in the UK.
Lopetz of Büro Destruct is currently designing and editing a book about these toys. In case you are interested in the publication, please get in touch with him. And head over to Flickr to see his little collection of the most cleverly designed Pocketmates.
Shown here is a selection of games with interesting typography. Many of the display typefaces were available from Letraset. The Tomy Pocketmate name and the labels like “Start”, “Goal” etc. are typically in all-caps Futura.
Space Athletic (Moon Shot) ft. Data 70
Catch a Caterpillar ft. Yagi Link Double and ITC Avant Garde Gothic. The top line appears to use Yagi Link Double’s inline.
Galaxian (Star Shooter) ft. Microgramma and Futura Display, with a customized N
Moon Target (Splash Down, Magnet Target) ft. Data 70
Space Invasion (Pocket Vader, Space Invader) ft. Filmotype Quiet and some unidentified Helvetica-like substance
Marbel Catch (Secret Passage, Drop ’n’ Catch) ft. a customized Pump
Election (Time Machine) ft. Data 70
Golf Game ft. outlined Pretorian with a custom M and a mirrored A
Dice Up ft. Davida
Target Game (Target Range) ft. chromatic Profil. The numerals are from an unidentified source.
Frog Fight ft. all-caps Flash and an unidentified Japanese typeface
Hamburger Catch (Burger Catch) ft. numerals from Brush Script. The title is lettering.
